The Maiden Voyage is Complete - Recap of Moving Week
Her maiden voyage is complete! While she doesn't yet sit on her new foundation, the 30 mile traverse to the land was a huge success, and I could not be more excited that big project is done!
A Huge Thank You
Before I share the details I have to give a huge thank you to everyone who made this possible, and boy, there are many! William's and Son Housemovers are the best of the best. Twin Valleys PPD was with us from start to finish and worked as an extremely efficient well oiled team. Huge thanks to Nebraska PPD and Pinpoint for helping us make it through Alma so quickly. We crossed a Frontier line in town as well, and that's a whole other story, but we made it - Thank you for your help Dan. Thank you to Harlan County Sheriffs Department for escorting us down HWY 42, HWY 183, and HWY 89. Thank you to Nebraska Department of Transportation for helping us coordinate calls, approve our plan, and very VERY quickly issue our permit. Thank you to Harlan County Roads Department for your willingness to work with us as our route developed over the year. Thank you to Chad and Sheri Rupe for your kindness and generosity in allowing us to purchase and prepare this beautiful home to be moved off your property. We had so much fun getting to know your mom and dad next door! Thank you to Banner Capital Bank in Alma for coming through for us in some of the most stressful moments. We are so grateful to Cindy and Terry for all your support and hard physical labor. Thank you to JJ for making the home site a possibility and for all the trees trimmed. Thank you to Richter Walls, Nuemeyer Excavation, River Valley Services, and Lavon Olson for helping us prepare the site and new home foundation. Thank you to Rena Conner, Jeff Landen, and Angy with the Harlan County Journal for sharing your talents and taking time to document the big move days for us. Thank you to mom and dad for always being willing to help whenever needed. Thank you for the kindness of everyone in our communities and the private land owners who let us park on your property. Thank you to all the friends and family who showed up to prep the house for the move and a big big thank you to my Husband, Max, for always supporting me through all the craziness and for all the hours spent working so hard. Most of all thank you to our Heavenly Father who is the master builder of all!
Moving Week
Tuesday 10/1 - Last week was BIG. We started the morning on Tuesday with a final planning call for everyone involved with the move. We sorted through details and I proptly got to work getting the last details in order after the call. I called a private landowner and approved our parking location for Friday and Saturday night, ran to the bank, and then delivered a check to Cambridge.
A Huge and Stressful Obstacle
It would have been a busy but fairly good day had we not learned that, despite our invoice stating payment to Frontier wasn't due until October 18th, they would not be releasing our project until all funds were received. We had just dropped our check in the mail over the weekend thinking we were 2 weeks early, but since it was probably heading to Cincinnati or New York, the money would likely not arrive to be processed and approved by corporate in time for our October 4th and 6th move dates, just 3 days away. I had to figure out how to get payment to Frontier immediately so our project could be released and the state could issue us our oversized moving permit. First hang up was trying to figure out if we could electronically transfer a new payment to Frontier and if so, how we could get that done ASAP. The contractor working for Frontier helped us get the Frontier ACH information, but after several calls of sorting out info, we also learned we weren't able to transfer the funds electronically with our Missouri bank, as they require us to be in person and we are 5.5 hours away now. Crud. After a quick chat with Banner Capital and even an after hours call, they assured us they would help us get it all taken care of first thing Wednesday morning.
Wednesday 10/2 - Bright and early Wednesday I ran to the bank to get this payment transferred to Frontier. We were told that with an electronic transfer it should be recieved before the end of the work day, if not within just a couple hours. YAY! I called our Missouri bank and had them cancel the check that was still out so we weren't charged that hefty sum twice and then notified Frontier that our money was transferred and that we urgently needed our project cleared. Again, Dan the Frontier contractor, was very responsive, but his hands were tired. The most frustrating thing is how horrible Frontier, a communications company, is with communicating. The special projects phone number on our invoice went to a full voicemail every single time. Every other Frontier number listed online would go to general customer service, which had no idea what Special Projects is, and would tranfer us endlessly to other likewise departments, before our call would ironically drop. It was excruciating waiting as the clock ticked closer to move day with no word from Frontier, despite our strenuous efforts. Even their contractor said it seemed unusual for it to be taking so long.
Thursday 10/3 - Thursday morning rolled around. We had confirmation from the bank our payment should have been received the day before. I continued to desperately try to reach anyone at Frontier, to no avail, and was seriously beginning to lose hope that we'd be able to move forward with our hard worked for plans. Despite the glaring unknowns, the kids and I got to work painting the bible verse signs we wanted to hang on the house before its voyage to the land, clinging to the thought that they would need to be hung that night for the move the next morning. Low and behold, an email from Frontier... the special project is approved and the state is being notified immediately! Hallelujah! Tears of joy and HUGE relief. The girls and I danced in the kitchen, "God heard our prayers! He said yes! The house is moving tomorrow!!" We recieved our official state moving permit at 6:15pm Thursday night. Just in time to head down the road at 9am the next morning. Praise God!
Friday 10/4, 9am. The girls stayed with Gigi while Max and I headed to Ragan eager for the big move. We arrived to see they had already rolled the house out into the street! Twin Valleys was working away at the power lines and we got to watch as the pros did their thing. It was incredible to watch as the house rolled out of the town in which it had sat for the last 134 years. Still makes me a little grievous thinking about taking the house and leaving the ground that she called home for so long bare. Its alright, we'll take good care of ya old girl. The day went off without a hitch and we made really great time arriving at our temporary parking location just west of Huntley around 12:30pm. Max and I flagged traffic out in front of Williams Movers, stopping to chat with several truck drivers before sending them down a different route. We felt very official with a radio to communicate with Williams and a bright orange flag. Cindy flagged the tail picking up bricks that the house occasionally dropped and tossing them off the road. I was so tired after such a week and exciting morning, I went home and crashed for 5 hours!!
Photos above by Rena Conner.
Saturday 10/5 - With all things in order, we spent Saturday with family at Apple Fest in Orleans. We did our best to get to bed at a decent time and my sister stayed over because Max and had to head out the door at 7am Sunday morning!
Sunday 10/6- We all started showing up for the move on Sunday October 6th around 7:30am. We briefly talked with Williams and the Sheriff and deputies to understand the plan. The deputies would signal oncoming traffic off to the side of the road while the house passed by and we would hold traffic back behind the house, flagging them on to pass at strategic times throughout the move. Cindy followed behind us to pick up anymore bricks the house dropped and to manage the few impatient travelers behind us. My mom was on her way to watch the excitement and got to us right when the house was entering Alma. My sister, in a different car with our girls, joined the entourage behind us right about this time as well.
So many people were out watching as we passed through town. Cindy says in all her years living here, she's never known of such a large house rolling through town. I am grateful almost everyone was so kind and patient as the crews worked to make the move quick.
The first crossing in Alma was the Frontier line and it was definitely the most interesting as well. Their plan was to lower their line and lay 2x4s on either side so the house could drive over without crushing it. Well as we approached and the house slowed, we heard Williams radio over that they had strangly placed a third 2x4 on top of the others, obviously making it higher to have to drive over. The crunching sounded awful as the house slowly made its way over and it rocked back and forth enough to make Max and I hold our breath! The body language of those subcontractors as they came running and falling down into the ditch said it all! I'm fairly certain they'd never done a move like this before.
Crossing the huge bridge was a site I had been envisioning for such a long time. It is so cool to see all the photos of that that were captured. It took about 10 minutes to make it across. Top speed on clear stretches of highway was about 20 miles an hour. That's pretty fast for a big ole house! HWY 89 went very quick and we waved good bye to our Sheriffs Department escort. The hair pin turn onto I Rd was incredible to watch. With just a couple radio cues, they make the turn in one clean sweep and 6 inches to spare on the stop sign. Amazing!
Photos above by Rena Conner.
This is where the hard work for us began. Twin Valleys went on ahead to spot and lift the final lines along route. While we waited Williams pointed out a few trees that needed trimmed back quite a bit still. Max and I drove ahead trimming as much as we could before the house got to us. One tree on I Rd, was catching so much that Williams lifted Max up with his pole saw in his Bobcat. It was right a long a sleep ditch so I kept praying they would be safe! I drove the truck so Max could jump in and out to trim quickly. This did slow us down quite a bit, but we were getting so close!
We finally made it to Garnett Rd. Max and JJ had spent 4 days out trimming back the trees along this road and it was still pretty thick! This would prove to be the most tedious stretch. Cindy set up a video at the top of the homesite to capture the old gem coming to her new home, then came down to help JJ and Max cut down some more trees where needed. This road is narrow and there was a wash out just at the bottom too. Williams worked to quickly fill that in with his skid loader. The house inched down as the limbs were cut back. Many were brushing the house, but they moved forward ever so gently. On the radio I heard "how am I on that wash out?" Response, "Oh, Good. Well, we're gonna have to get past it." And they did! I wonder if they ever even get nervous! The house made another sharp turn under the final powerline and onto our driveway. That's where she'll sit on the truck until everything is ready, hopefully soon, to place her on the new foundation.
We had many friends and loved ones following along - My mom, my sister and my girls, an uncle, JJ, Cindy, Rena there capturing photos for us, my grandma and grandpa, and even a friend of Mr. Williams all there to watch the big move. I spoke with Angy today from the Harlan County Journal and am so excited they will be running a story on the project. On to the next steps in the process, but goodness, this feels like a huge step forward. A real dream come true. More to come. Glory be to God!
